Hanley Heads West to LA

It seemed like the Miami Marlins couldn't fail with the way their offseason went. They got the big free agent (Jose Reyes), hired a proven manager (Ozzie Guillen), signed two pitchers who have had success (Mark Buerhle and Carlos Zambrano) and had a new ballpark (Marlins Stadium) on top of that. All of that to join a team that already had Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Johnson, Logan Morrison and Hanley Ramirez.  Ozzie and Reyes were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated and the Marlins were the talk of the MLB for all the right reasons. However, things haven't exactly gone as planned and now their often-disgruntled star, Ramirez has packed his bags for Los Angeles in a trade that sent him to the Dodgers for next to nothing. On top of that, the Marlins have struggled to put people in the seats at their new ballpark, proof that not all brilliant plans end up working out.

Look no further than Hanley Ramirez. His career has been in the spotlight since he entered the league and not always for the right reasons. Let us not forget though, just three years ago the 2006 Rookie of the Year was on top of the baseball mountain top. In 2009 he led the MLB with a .342 batting average while hitting 24 home runs and knocking in 106 runs. He had career-highs in OBP and slugging percentage and finished second in the MVP voting. He was named an All-Star and received a Silver Slugger at the conclusion of the season. From there it has been a steep decline for Hanley Ramirez. Not only have his numbers continued to drop, but he has become the face of the "lazy and egotistical club" in the MLB. His booted ground ball incident in 2010 made headlines everywhere, not because of the error, but because of the lack of hustle he showed in chasing the ball down. Naturally, news came out later that he may have hurt his ankle earlier in the game, but the damage was done. Run-ins with ex-manager Fredi Gonzalez became something of a routine and Gonzalez was shown the door during last season.

Entering 2012, hopes were high in Miami. As mentioned above, everything was coming together for the Marlins. That is, until Ramirez was asked to move over to third base so that Reyes could play shortstop. Ramirez turned down the idea and publicly refused to move. He later changed his stance and made the move, but again, the damage was done. That's all a precursor to how poorly Ramirez has played this season. His batting average (.249) is challenging his career-low from 2011 (.243 in a season in which he played just 92 games) and he has just 49 RBIs. He is in danger of setting career-highs in strikeouts and double plays while it's highly possible he could have career-lows in batting average, hits, and stolen bases. The 2009 Hanley Ramirez seems like a distant memory, so the question is: why did the Dodgers trade for him?

Precisely because of those number he put up from 2006-2009. He is an all-star caliber player who can be a serious threat wherever he is put in the lineup. Imagine the 2009 Ramirez in the same lineup as Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. Through two games he has started at third and is 3-6 at the plate. If the Dodgers can somehow find the old Hanley then they are getting a major prize. There are some cases where athletes need a change of scenery. It could be for a variety of reasons and it appears this is a case of Ramirez needing a new home. Earlier in the year, a slumping Kevin Youkilis was traded from Boston to the White Sox and he has thrived in Chicago's lineup since the trade. The Dodgers hope Ramirez will be a similar story.

He will play for a manager, Don Mattingly, who knows a little something about winning and playing the game the right way and he is surrounded by stars who can take pressure off of him. The situation, again, seems like one that would be hard to mess up. He's already off to a hot start and it's a fair guess he is trying to outrun his negative image. Question is: will he hustle do so?